No impact on investment due to slowdown: ONGC chief

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation on Wednesday said its investments have not been

affected due to slowdown in the country's economy. Speaking to reporters here, ONGC Chairman and Managing

Director Shashi Shanker said the investment of the company are long-term and take time to yield profits.

"Our investments are long-term and it takes long for them to yield profits but our fundamentals are very strong

both in oil and natural gas and we are progressing well," he said.

ONGC has always been a profit making compay with government stake of 62 per cent and it has made large-scale

foreign investments in Middle East, different countries of Africa and even in Venezuela.

Asked whether the current economic slowdown has affected its investments, he said, "Economic situation has not

impacted our investment. We have had Rs 1.5 lakh crore capital investment in last five years with nearly Rs 30,000 crore

additional investment every year. Speaking on the the company's share price fall, he

said it might have happened due to adverse environment for companies dealing with fossil fuels.

"A recent study showed that oil and gas company shares are at 10 year low across all companies. In 2019-20, some

international companies suffered loss," the CMD said. One of reasons responsible for the share price decline

might be the successive ETF, Shanker said. He said, the the company has given exploration drive

for augmenting gas reserve in Tripura. Tripura now produces 31 per cent of onshore gas

production in the country and 4.6 per cent of total natural gas.